credential
Enable an AI agent to recognise a credential, assess the claims and authority it conveys, and determine whether and how it may be presented, checked or relied upon.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
6 bundles · 11 layers · 18 findings · 28 questions
Attested claims The assertions the credential makes and the boundaries of their meaning.
Claim content
Identify the attestation and its subject without enlarging its meaning.
Explicit attestation
Record the issuer's actual assertions separately from interpretations made by a verifier.
- What identity, qualification, membership, status or entitlement does the credential explicitly attest? definition
- Which subject does each claim concern, and what resolves ambiguity in that identification? boundary
Claim limits
Capture conditions and exclusions that constrain the attestation.
Bounded meaning
Distinguish what is certified from broader competence, recognition or permission that might be inferred.
- Which activities, levels, locations or institutional contexts are covered or excluded? boundary
- Does the credential attest completion, assessed competence or permission to practise, and what evidence establishes that distinction? definition
Issuance and authority Who makes the attestation, why they may make it and what supported issuance.
Issuing authority
Identify the responsible issuer and the scope of its asserted authority.
Authority chain
Record any accreditation, mandate or delegation used to justify issuer authority for these claims.
- Who is responsible for the attestation, and is a separate service merely producing or signing its representation? provenance
- What evidence supports the issuer's authority for this credential type at the time of issuance? provenance
Issuance basis
Connect the issued claims to the process and evidence used to grant them.
Award grounds
Record issuance criteria, their applicable version and available evidence that they were satisfied.
- Which assessment, identity check, appointment or other event justified issuing the credential? provenance
- Which criteria applied, and what evidence is available without exposing unnecessary underlying records? provenance
Representation and binding How the credential is embodied and connected to its subject and presenter.
Credential representations
Relate documents, records and presentations to the attestation they represent.
Attestation identity
Distinguish the credential from a copy, replacement carrier, derived presentation or separately issued attestation.
- What identifier or issuer record establishes which attestation this representation belongs to? definition
- Is this item an original representation, copy, replacement or derived presentation, and which claims does it preserve? boundary
Subject, holder and presenter
Separate the entity described from whoever holds or presents the credential.
Legitimate presentation
Capture the evidence and rules connecting a presentation to the subject or an authorised representative.
- How can a verifier establish the presenter's relationship to the attested subject? provenance
- May an agent, guardian or other delegate present it, and what establishes that authority? action
Verification and lifecycle Evidence of authenticity and the time-dependent standing of the credential.
Authenticity checks
Specify checks appropriate to the credential's medium and issuing system.
Integrity and attribution
Keep evidence of unaltered content and issuer attribution distinct from acceptance of the claims.
- Which signature, seal, issuer lookup or other evidence can establish attribution and detect alteration? provenance
- Which checks passed, failed or remain indeterminate, and when were they performed? measurement
Temporal standing
Track validity periods and issuer-controlled changes in standing.
Current and historical status
Record effective dates and status evidence sufficiently to distinguish present usability from historical attestation.
- When does validity begin and end, and what suspension, revocation or supersession evidence applies? measurement
- How should a verifier treat unavailable or stale status evidence and requests to validate a past presentation? action
Reliance and disclosure Conditions for using a credential in a decision and sharing its claims.
Acceptance context
Relate the attestation to a specific relying party's requirements.
Decision sufficiency
Assess whether the credential's claims and authority satisfy the intended decision without treating acceptance as universal.
- Which relying party, purpose and acceptance rules govern this proposed use? boundary
- Does the credential satisfy those requirements, or is additional evidence or human review needed? action
Presentation controls
Govern which claims may be disclosed and how presentation evidence may be retained.
Proportionate disclosure
Record disclosure authority and supported ways to limit unnecessary exposure or reuse.
- Which claims are necessary for this purpose, and can the representation disclose them without revealing the complete credential? action
- What authority permits presentation, and what audience, retention or reuse restrictions apply? action
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Check these first
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these check these first hold for the sense of credential this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Kinds and varieties
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of credential this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Identifiers and schemes
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of credential this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Standards and regulation
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of credential this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of credential this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of credential this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of credential this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of credential this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Information and virtual systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- INF
- Domain
- INF.MED
- Other names and narrower kinds
- badge, call center certification, quality assurance credential, statutory credential, microdegree
What it is Filled
A credential is a document, record, or other attestation presented as evidence of a subject's identity, qualifications, status, or authority, whose acceptance depends on the verifier's trust in its issuer and assessment of its validity.
In scope
- Attested identity, qualification, membership, status or entitlement claims
- Issuer identity, issuing authority and grounds for the attestation
- Subject identification and relationships among subject, holder and presenter
- Credential representations, integrity evidence and verification requirements
- Validity, suspension, revocation, replacement and presentation conditions
Out of scope
- The person, organisation or other entity described by the credential
- The underlying education, assessment, employment or membership activity
- Passwords, private keys and other authenticators considered independently
- The relying party's complete access-control or eligibility policy
- General document publishing, copyright and carrier manufacture
Why it exists Filled
Enable an AI agent to recognise a credential, assess the claims and authority it conveys, and determine whether and how it may be presented, checked or relied upon.
Distinguishing features Filled
- It presents claims about a subject as an attestation attributable to an issuer, rather than merely describing that subject.
- Its asserted authority and evidentiary basis matter to acceptance; an accurate but unattributed statement is not equivalent.
- Possessing its document or file need not establish that the possessor is its subject or authorised presenter.
- An authentic credential can be expired, revoked, outside its recognised scope or insufficient for a particular decision.
- A credential attesting an entitlement is distinct from the policy or decision that grants access on a particular occasion.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Forge, alter or issue a credential without authority.
- Accept a credential as valid without checking its issuer, status and expiry.
- Share a person's credentials beyond the verification they agreed to.
- Present itself as a holder of credentials it does not have.
Only with a human decision
- Revoking or refusing a person's credential.
- Disclosing credentials to a third party.
May
- Verify a credential with its issuer or trusted registry, with the holder's consent.
- Store credentials it is entrusted with securely and only as long as needed.
Moral aspects Filled
- Credentials control access to jobs, services and places; false ones endanger others.
- Over-collection of credential data creates privacy and identity theft risks.
Who is affected
- Credential holders
- Verifiers and the people they protect
- Issuers
Owners Filled
Steward
The issuing authority; the holder keeps and presents it.
Master systems
- Issuers' registers of credentials and revocations
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q17537576 - registry parent class
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.credential
- Wikidata: Q16861606 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16861606)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
- Claim class: Identity, qualification, membership, status, entitlement or explicitly defined other claim
- Attested subject: Subject entity or entities, with identification method and ambiguity
- Issuer and authority basis: Issuing entity linked to the mandate, recognition or delegated authority it asserts
- Claim scope: Defined activities, competence levels, jurisdictions, organisations and exclusions
- Holder and presenter binding: Subject-held, delegated, bearer-based or unresolved, with supporting evidence
- Representation and integrity method: Paper, physical token, digital record or hybrid; associated seal, signature, registry check or other method
- Validity interval: Start and end timestamps with timezone and precision; unspecified or explicitly unbounded where applicable
- Lifecycle status: Issued, active, suspended, revoked, expired, superseded or unknown, with status evidence and observation time
- Verification assessment: Separate passed, failed, indeterminate or not-applicable results for integrity, issuer authority, subject binding, time and status
- Disclosure and use constraints: Permitted purposes, audiences, fields, retention conditions and delegation limits
Plane INF: no invented physical properties.
Recognition not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
A credential's status as a trusted attestation is not directly perceptible and cannot be established from the appearance of its carrier.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- Inspect the attested claims and identify the issuer, subject and limits of the attestation.
- Check integrity, issuer authority, subject binding and current status while recording unresolved checks.
- Prepare an authorised presentation containing only claims needed by the relying party.
- Assess whether the credential supports a specified decision under the relying party's acceptance rules.
- Request renewal, correction, replacement or revocation through an authorised issuer process.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Forged or stolen credentials let unqualified people into trusted roles.
- Leaked credential data enables identity fraud.
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- Verifiable Credentials Data Model, World Wide Web Consortium.
Context of use required Filled
- A credential is presented when a person or organization needs to demonstrate identity, qualifications, status or delegated authority.
- Credentials are used in education, employment, professional practice and access decisions, where acceptance depends on the issuer and the claim being verified.
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q16861606: credential - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Credential - general description of the item
Open questions
- Does vr.tr.credential include passwords and other authentication secrets, or only issued attestations?
- Does an existing Vercy world model already own this concept or a substantial part of its scope?
- Which credential families must be covered, particularly self-issued attestations, bearer credentials and attestations about nonhuman subjects?
- When do renewal, correction and replacement create a new credential rather than a new representation of the same attestation?
- Which authoritative sources establish recognition, status and historical verification rules for the credential families selected?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q16861606/spec.json